At present, the global economic development is facing a high degree of uncertainty, and more and more logistics equipment companies are also feeling the pressure of growth. In the face of complex and volatile external situations, only by improving the "resilience" of enterprises can they withstand shocks and achieve sustainable growth through the crisis.
If there is a key word to summarize the global economic development in 2023, it must be "uncertainty". Although the new crown epidemic is gradually away from us, the follow-up impact is still continuing, coupled with the complex international situation, global economic growth tends to decline, and black swan events are frequent, and various uncertain factors have tested the resilience and viability of enterprises. Whether it is a large enterprise or a small and medium-sized enterprise, they are thinking about how to go further and walk more steadily. Enhancing the resilience of enterprises has become the best choice for development in a complex environment.
The development of the industry has encountered multiple challenges
In recent years, with the Internet, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and other new technologies gradually applied to warehousing, transportation, distribution and other logistics links, the digitization of warehousing and logistics scenarios, the interconnection of elements in the chain, and the intelligent decision-making of the chain, boosted the comprehensive upgrade of warehousing and logistics, and led to the great development of logistics equipment technology.
However, in the past 2023, in the face of the continuous impact of the post-epidemic era and the complex and volatile international situation, market players are generally facing challenges such as operational difficulties, declining profits, capital flow interruption and even bankruptcy. According to a survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, among these difficulties and challenges, the most impacted and direct ones are often small, medium and micro market entities. Most of the logistics equipment companies are also not having a good time, and "difficult, rolling, boiling, and tired" have become a common feeling for everyone.
Due to the late start of the development of China's logistics equipment enterprises, there are still certain deficiencies compared with the world's leading logistics equipment and system integrators. For example, in terms of market competitiveness, the foundation of China's logistics equipment technology industry is still relatively weak, and it needs to be further strengthened and improved in terms of technology accumulation, industrial environment, innovation ability, talent training, etc., and the key basic components of logistics equipment, product innovation capabilities, and enterprise scale still need to be improved. In terms of industry concentration is still low, only some enterprises have the overall coordination and control ability from process research and development, process design, production and processing to system integration, etc., a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises are mainly competing in the low-end field, product homogenization is serious, low-price competition is common, not only difficult to form a brand effect, but also is not conducive to enhance the overall competitiveness of the industry. In addition, the lack of professional and technical personnel, especially high-end talents, has become an important bottleneck restricting the development of China's intelligent warehousing and logistics system industry, which is not conducive to the rapid development of the industry.
At a time when market competition is fierce, the industry is accelerating involution, and uncertainty is surging, how can logistics equipment companies achieve "resilient growth" has become a more important and urgent issue for leaders.
Shaping the ability to "grow resiliently".
"Resilience" originally referred to the ability of ecosystems to recover or self-repair after natural or human disturbances, and in recent years, the term has appeared more and more frequently in China's economic field, and more and more companies have proposed to achieve "resilient growth", that is, the growth of the first value, and continuous growth through different crisis stages.
To achieve "resilient growth", enterprises need to have several capabilities: First, the ability to agile cognition of environmental changes. In the case of increased uncertainty, enterprises need to be able to quickly perceive changes in the external environment and make a response to the external environment. The second is the strong network connection ability of the first chain. In the face of large fluctuations in demand, a single enterprise often has limited capacity, and needs to dynamically adjust its supply capacity with the help of an external network, so as to ensure the operation of the enterprise. The third is the ability to continue to innovate. Through the upgrading of products and technological processes, we can cope with external changes and interferences, and maintain our core competitiveness and sustainable development. Fourth, the ability to deal with sudden negative shocks, especially working capital, inventory management, personnel flexibility management system, etc., can survive in the shock. The development and upgrading of China's logistics equipment industry is also inseparable from many resilient enterprises, which can not only recover quickly from the crisis and get out of the predicament, but also take advantage of the growth opportunities brought by each crisis to achieve sustainable growth in the face of adversity.
For the cognition of "resilient growth", logistics equipment companies also have their own experience and have taken corresponding measures. For example, in order to build the ability of "resilient growth", Kunzhou Shipbuilding Intelligence mainly focuses on three aspects, including focusing on the industry and concentrating resources to deepen and thoroughly subdivide the field; Dig down to optimize the delivery and management of the ** chain; Parallel expansion, i.e., providing more products and services to existing customers and industries. Among them, in terms of the optimization of chain management, in the first half of 2023, Kunzhou Shipbuilding Intelligent will comprehensively promote the implementation of the LTC (lead to payment) process management method, and use the LTC main line logic to guide business management activities and improve management efficiency. Through the LTC process management method, the market information collection process and internal resource mobilization process were further improved, and the project bidding was actively participated in to obtain business orders. Reduce the construction time of project implementation and further improve the efficiency of operation turnover.
In addition to optimizing the work process, improving the organizational flexibility, and ensuring the "resilience" of the process, Jingxing also continuously strengthens the diversified advantages of the core business of the three-dimensional warehouse, expands new growth points, and reduces the dependence on the flat warehouse business weakened by market demand, so as to ensure the "resilience" of the core business. In addition, efforts are also made to strengthen risk management and control, establish and improve risk management and control systems, timely detect and respond to various risks, and reduce the probability and impact of risks. Combined with the risk characteristics of business risk, investment risk and financing risk, Jingxing takes preventive measures to reduce the possibility of risk for enterprises and ensure the "resilience" of risk control through actual assessment and assessment.
In the view of Shikuang, logistics equipment product projects have the characteristics of high degree of customization, many changes in plans and sites, and long project delivery and payment cycles, so in order to enhance "resilience", Shicang pays special attention to the improvement of product and customer positioning, project safety and smooth delivery, inventory and receivables management, organizational effectiveness, risk prevention and response, etc. In particular, the ability to "project safety and smooth delivery", whether it is a logistics integrator or an equipment manufacturer, is the foundation of its sustainable and healthy growth, and it is also an important aspect to enhance its development "resilience".
Practice internal skills and deal with challenges
Although the way and focus of logistics equipment enterprises to achieve "resilient growth" are slightly different, they basically focus on products, technology, operations and management, and better cope with the challenges in the complex environment and achieve long-term healthy and high-quality development by practicing internal skills.
In terms of business, it is the most important point for logistics equipment companies to pay close attention to the core business and achieve the ultimate in what they are good at through innovative research and development. In order to achieve product innovation, Damon Technology integrates the concepts of distributed and edge computing into product design, continuously distributes computing power to equipment, and improves the edge computing capability of field equipment, thereby reducing the dependence on the upper centralized PLC and control system and significantly reducing the cost of electronic control.
Shicang has upgraded its four-way vehicle products around six core technologies: motion control algorithm, walking lifting drive mechanism, safety technology, modular platform design, intelligent interaction, and high-precision and rapid positioning technology. At the same time, a breakthrough has been made in the large-scale multi-vehicle dispatching system, which can realize the large-scale application of 100 four-way vehicle systems on the same floor; The stand-alone intelligent control realizes the autonomous planning and control of the four-way vehicle, the rapid construction of unknown environment maps, and the intelligent obstacle avoidance or bypass, which has greatly improved the product safety, operation convenience, and rapid delivery.
In order to vigorously promote digital transformation, Kunzhou Shipbuilding Intelligence has carried out a lot of research and practice in digital twins, 5G + industrial Internet, etc., such as the development of 5G-stacker, 5G-R G-A** and other products, as well as 5G logistics equipment products using 5G industrial intelligent gateways to realize the combination of 5G technology and equipment. In order to meet the needs of some large manufacturing enterprises for automatic scheduling management, mixed palletizing and traceability in the circulation industry, Kunzhou Shipbuilding Intelligence has also carried out corresponding product research and development.
Strengthening the construction of the operation and management system, strengthening the operation and management capabilities and internal control can better improve the energy efficiency of organization and management, and deal with the occurrence of risks and crises. In this regard, Jingsong Intelligent not only uses the construction of informatization and digital systems to achieve upgrades, such as promoting the PLM system and ERP-MES system online, but also continuously optimizes the business processes and related internal controls of procurement, production, R&D, project delivery and sales services, establishes and improves internal governance and organizational structure, and forms a scientific decision-making, implementation and supervision mechanism to ensure the legal compliance of the company's operation and management and the orderly conduct of business activities, improve operational efficiency, and enhance the company's overall management and operation level.
In addition, logistics equipment companies also pay special attention to strengthening team building and personnel training, cultivating employees' adaptability, and improving teamwork and innovation capabilities. While pursuing its own sustainable development, Jingxing also takes into account the sustainable development of employees to ensure the "resilience" of the talent pool. Jingsong Intelligent has also set up a team of talents with a solid professional foundation, strong innovation ability and rich experience in project implementation, and attaches great importance to the construction of R&D system, with innovative R&D centers distributed in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Hefei, and the establishment of the Yangtze River Delta scientific research integration strategy, bringing together global scientific and technological R&D talents, and continuously increasing R&D investment.
It is worth mentioning that the building of resilience capability is also inseparable from business leaders, who need to have the entrepreneurial spirit of self-improvement, respond to crises and changes with a continuous spirit of innovation and a strong sense of social responsibility, and actively explore effective ways to save themselves in production, transform their operations, and improve their efficiency, so as to lead enterprises to achieve resilience-based growth against the trend.
In short, to achieve "resilient growth", enterprises need to start from many aspects, and only through comprehensive measures and steps can they enhance their resilience and enhance their ability to continue to develop in a highly competitive and uncertain market environment.
"Resilient growth" as a long-term strategy
In fact, due to the popularization of logistics digitalization and intelligent technology, the logistics equipment industry is still in a period of rapid development, with the continuous progress of technology and the expansion of application fields, intelligent logistics equipment will be applied in more fields, further promoting the growth of market scale.
However, the increasing competition in the market and the increasing uncertainty of the external environment have forced logistics equipment companies to be prepared for the cold winter. In order to stand out from the competition, companies need to increase investment in technological innovation and promote product and service upgrades. "Resilience" is the ability of enterprises to adapt to and respond to changes in the external environment, and is the cornerstone of sustainable development, and achieving "resilient growth" will become an important development strategy that enterprises need to adhere to for a long time.